CARMEL, Ind., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- For the ninth consecutive year, hundreds of Conseco employees in Carmel pitched in this month to provide holiday cheer for the needy of central Indiana as part of the company's Adopt-a-Family program. Each holiday season, Conseco partners with the United Christmas Service (a United Way agency). UCS identifies local families in need. Conseco provides up to $1,000 of funding per family. Teams of employee volunteers often add their own donations and perform additional fundraising, then shop for holiday gifts, wrap them, and deliver them to their adopted families -- along with boxes of groceries and household items that are purchased and sorted by a grocery team. Over the past nine years, this Conseco program has provided holiday cheer for more than 300 central Indiana families. Forty families received help in the 2008 program, which concluded today with a "wrapping party" for the 400-plus employee volunteers who participated. Conseco volunteers Shawn Ardizone, Media Oakes and Faith Richman chaired the 2008 event, and Julia Skaggs served as grocery captain. "Adopt-a-Family is dear to our hearts at Conseco because it helps us connect directly with our neighbors," said Steve Stecher, president of Conseco Insurance Group (the Carmel-based Conseco insurance companies). "Central Indiana -- Conseco's home -- has provided us with so much support over our 26-year operating history. Conseco employees really get charged up when they have an opportunity to give back to the community in a personal way." Team Conseco volunteers donated more than 5,400 hours of volunteer service to the community in 2007, a record already exceeded in 2008. About Conseco Conseco, Inc.'s insurance companies help protect working American families and seniors from financial adversity: Medicare supplement, long-term care, cancer, heart/stroke and accident policies protect people against major unplanned expenses; annuities and life insurance products help people plan for their financial futures. For more information, visit Conseco's web site at http://www.conseco.com/. DATASOURCE: Conseco, Inc. CONTACT: News Media: Jim Rosensteele, Corporate Communications, Conseco, Inc., +1-317-817-6363 Web site: http://www.conseco.com/

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